Hugh Grant: ‘My romantic comedy days are over’

Hugh Grant is convinced he’s become “too old and ugly” to star in any more romantic comedies. The British actor is well-known for his work in the genre thanks to films such as Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary, but he has now revea…

Hugh Grant is convinced he’s become “too old and ugly” to star in any more romantic comedies.

The British actor is well-known for his work in the genre thanks to films such as Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary, but he has now revealed that 2014’s The Rewrite was most likely his last romantic comedy outing because his looks aren’t what they used to be.

“I got too old and ugly and fat to do them anymore,” he said during a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter. “So now I’ve done other things and I’ve got marginally less self-hatred than I had before.”

Reflecting on his films, which also include Two Weeks Notice and About a Boy, Grant admitted that he made a couple of “shockers” but he’s quite proud of the rest.

“Most of those romantic comedies I can look squarely in the face – one or two are shockers, but on the whole, I can look them in the face and people like them,” the 58-year-old continued. “And I am a big believer that our job is to entertain. I see us as craftsmen along with the guy who does the lights and the guy who edits and the guy who pushes the dolly. Because if it’s not that, I think it’s a bit masturbatory.”

He also expressed regret about going for the same roles after becoming a hit overnight with Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994.

“After Four Weddings, and the world was my oyster, I should’ve made interesting decisions and done different stuff. Instead, I repeated myself almost identically about 17 times in a row,” he added.

Grant, who has been earned praise for TV miniseries, A Very English Scandal, was joined by Richard Madden, Billy Porter, Stephan James, Diego Luna and Sam Rockwell for the roundtable discussion.